I Feel As Though I Have Always Been Cold

128 Pages·2015·24.2 MB·English

by  Matthew Scott Phillips

I FEEL AS THOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COLD
by
MATTHEW SCOTT PHILLIPS
(Under the Direction of Adrian P. Childs)
ABSTRACT
In accordance with the requirements for completion of the degree Doctor of Musical Arts, this
document consists of three parts: An original composition, approximately forty minutes in length, for
Pierrot Ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, piano, and percussion); an analysis of the
compositional processes utilized in the composition; and analyses of works from the literature that are
similarly constructed, as well as supporting discussion on the analyses of those works by prominent
music theorists. The selected pieces from the repertoire are “Sorocaba” and “Botafogo,” from Saudades
do Brasil, by Darius Milhaud, and the 20 Mazurkas, Op.50, no.1, by Karol Szymanowski. Each of these
pieces utilizes a compositional technique that involves the use of multiple, simultaneous pitch-class
collections. By drawing upon the observations of music theorists who have discussed this technique, this
document proposes a rational model for approaching an analysis and composition of such a work.
The first chapter of this document is an introduction to I Feel As Though I Have Always Been Cold
that includes a brief analytical overview of its three movements. The second chapter analyzes the works
by Milhaud and Szymanowski. The third chapter applies the principles of the previously mentioned
model to a detailed analysis of the composition for Pierrot Ensemble. It describes the various ways in
which prolonged common tones, subcenter collections, and controlling collections are generated and
used in the work. It also explores the effects of the collections and subcenters on musical aspects, such
as harmonic modulation and textural dissonance. Following this analysis, in the fourth chapter, is a
discussion of the esthetic, narrative, and extramusical aspects of I Feel As Though I Have Always Been
Cold. The composition is presented in full score as an appendix.

INDEX WORDS: Polytonal, Darius Milhaud, Pierrot ensemble, Karol Szymanowski, Sorocaba,
Botafogo, Mazurkas, Original composition, Subcenter collection, Controlling
collection, common tone, prolonged
I FEEL AS THOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COLD

by

MATTHEW SCOTT PHILLIPS
B.A., The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2000
M.M., Birmingham Southern College, 2008

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

ATHENS, GEORGIA
2015
© 2015
Matthew Scott Phillips
All Rights Reserved
I FEEL AS THOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COLD

by

MATTHEW SCOTT PHILLIPS

Major Professor: Adrian P. Childs
Committee: Leonard V. Ball, Jr.
Rebecca Simpson-Litke

Electronic Version Approved:

Suzanne Barbour
Dean of the Graduate School
The University of Georgia
August 20, 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................ v
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
Original Composition for Pierrot Ensemble ........................................................................ 1
Analyses .............................................................................................................................. 5
2 ANALYSES OF WORKS FROM THE REPERTOIRE ......................................................................... 7
3 ANALYSIS OF ORIGINAL COMPOSITION .................................................................................. 27
4 ESTHETIC AND NARRATOLOGICAL GOALS ............................................................................... 42
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 55
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 58
APPENDICES
A I FEEL AS THOUGH I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COLD IN FULL SCORE ............................................. 59
Movement I ....................................................................................................................... 60
Movement II ...................................................................................................................... 79
Movement III ..................................................................................................................... 94

iv
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Figure 1: Milhaud’s “Superpositions” ........................................................................................................... 8
Figure 2: Example of Stravinsky’s “Petroushka Chord” ................................................................................ 8
Figure 3: Milhaud, “Sorocaba,” mm. 1-21 .................................................................................................. 12
Figure 4: Milhaud, “Sorocaba,” Structural Reduction, mm. 1-21 ............................................................... 13
Figure 5: Pitch-class collections in “Sorocaba” ........................................................................................... 15
Figure 6: Milhaud, “Botafogo,” mm. 1-26 ................................................................................................... 17
Figure 7: Milhaud, “Botafogo,” Structural Reduction mm. 1-25 ................................................................ 19
Figure 8: Milhaud, “Botafogo,” Pitch-class Collections ............................................................................... 20
Figure 9: Milhaud, “Botafogo,” mm. 27-30................................................................................................. 22
Figure 10: Szymanowski, Op.50, No.1, mm. 1-16 ....................................................................................... 23
Figure 11: Szymanowski, Op.50, No.1 Structural Reduction, mm. 1-5 ....................................................... 25
Figure 12: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 1-4. ................................................................................................ 28
Figure 13: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 1-4, Structural Reduction .............................................................. 29
Figure 14: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 30-33 .............................................................................................. 30
v
Figure 15: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 30-33, Structural Reduction ........................................................... 30
Figure 16: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 50-53, Structural Reduction ........................................................... 33
Figure 17: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 50-53, E dorian and G minor pitch-class collections...................... 33
Figure 18: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 50-53, E dorian and Bb minor collections ...................................... 34
Figure 19: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 65-66 Structural Reduction ............................................................ 35
Figure 20: Phillips, Movement II, mm.65-66, C minor and F lydian pitch-class collections ........................ 35
Figure 21: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 65-66, C minor and Bb minor pitch-class collections ..................... 36
Figure 22: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 223-226 Structural Reduction....................................................... 37
Figure 23: Phillips, Movement I, Structural Reduction of m.1 and mm. 22-23 .......................................... 38
Figure 24: Phillips, Movement III, Structural Reduction of m.1 and mm. 30-33 ........................................ 39
Figure 25: Phillips, Movement III, Structural Reduction of m. 68 and m. 115 ............................................ 40
Figure 26: Phillips, Movement II, Structural Reduction of m. 50 and m. 65 ............................................... 41
Figure 27: Phillips, Movement I, mm. 1-4 ................................................................................................... 42
Figure 28: Phillips, Movement I, mm. 72-76 ............................................................................................... 45
Figure 29: Phillips, Movement I, mm. 139-142 ........................................................................................... 46
Figure 30: Phillips, Movement I, Final Measures ........................................................................................ 46
Figure 31: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 1-8 .................................................................................................. 48
Figure 32: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 65-69 .............................................................................................. 49
vi
Figure 33: Phillips, Movement II, mm. 114-117 .......................................................................................... 50
Figure 34: Phillips, Movement II, Final measures, clarinet in Bb ................................................................. 50
Figure 35: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 68-71 ............................................................................................. 51
Figure 36: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 110-114 ......................................................................................... 52
Figure 37: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 115-118 ......................................................................................... 53
Figure 38: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 204-208 ......................................................................................... 54
Figure 39: Phillips, Movement III, mm. 223-231 ......................................................................................... 55
vii
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Original Composition for Pierrot Ensemble
I Feel As Though I Have Always Been Cold is an original composition for Pierrot Ensemble that
utilizes multiple referential pitch-class collections operating simultaneously on the surface of the musical
texture. While these collections may initially appear to be independent of each other, they are in fact
controlled at the structural background by a single pitch-class collection that contains a primary tonal
center. The surface-level collections will be referred to as “subcenter collections,” and their tonics or
finals will be called “subcenters.” They are connected to the fundamental structure by their derivation
from pitches that act as focal points. These pitches are diatonic to both the controlling collection and
subcenter collection, and are prolonged by the musical structure. A pitch that connects the pitch-class
collections in this way will be referred to as a “prolonged common tone.”
The piece is written for the standard instrumentation of the Pierrot Ensemble: flute, clarinet,
violin, cello, piano, and percussion. The percussion instruments include bass drum, floor tom, medium
tom, medium gong, snare drum, tambourine, suspended cymbal, china cymbal, triangle, marimba, and
glockenspiel. The composition is an attempt to create a musical metaphor on multiple levels. In a
corporeal sense, the piece serves as a metaphor for the seeming endlessness of winter and the
increasingly elusive, ephemeral quality of the memory of warmer seasons. The piece may also be
thought of as a narrative of changing emotional states, which are brought on by a struggle to achieve a
distant and ambiguous goal that is itself elusive and often seemingly unattainable.
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